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If any team were to benefit from the depth at the RB position this year, it's the Texans. They walked in with a few holes, but perhaps none of them as big as their hole at RB.
They'll find themselves picking after the Vikes, with a veritable smorgasboard (sp?) of worthy draftees.
Probably the purest gunner of all these gents is Steve Slaton, West Viriginia's "home run threat" guy. He's not necessarily a between-the-tackles guy but he can block as if he were one, but that's not what makes him interesting. He's got nothing short of elite speed, and if he gets any light people won't be chasing him down, 'nough said. He's also a decorated kick returner, and a good receiver to boot. He's not a scatback, however -- he doesn't have an arsenal of moves to make you miss, he's more or less a by-the-playbook guy. And with measurables like his, he's tempting.
At the other end of the spectrum is the fullback-looking Matt Forte from a much smaller school, Tulane. Forte is your workhorse. He's the guy you put between the tackles. He's the guy you put in goal line situations. He's the guy you want to get the tough yards that every team needs, the guy that can punish defenses. And he's a great receiver out of the backfield -- no RB that could be taken at this point has better hands. But the Texans' Dayne and Green both possess his abilities. The Texans are most likely looking for a Slaton-type.
Which brings me to Kevin Smith, a guy from another small school. He's a pure gunner as well, but he's got more body on him than Slaton does. He's not going to blow away from the secondary as explosively but his body will allow him to take more punishment between the tackles if need be. Smith is more of your scatback with the ability to improvise, but every yard he's ever earned has been against vastly inferior talent than he'll see in the NFL. Smith is a workhorse back, though -- he was over 60% of Central Florida's entire offense.
The last guy, and in my opinion the best, although I'll leave that up to the Texans, is Mike Hart from Michigan. Say what you want about poor receiving numbers, and say what you will about size, but the guy's hands are gold. He never fumbles. Never fumbles. Hart is your smart RB with the versatility to play in a variety of schemes, but I think he'd be most dangerous in a zone blocking scheme that both Houston and Denver, the next team picking, employ. He's also immensely tough physically, can take all kinds of punishment physically and keep trucking, and he's a tremendous mental presense for your backfield. I love him as the pick for the Texans. If not him, though, the Broncos could benefit from taking him.
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